The China Post news staff--The high-speed railway system turned a profit in 2011 for the first time since it started running over five years ago.
The Taiwan High Speed Rail Corporation (THSRC) yesterday reported NT$32.24 billion in revenues for 2011, rising from NT$27.64 billion in 2010. After-tax profit came to NT$5.78 billion.

Passenger volume last year also rose about 12 percent to 41.63 million people.

Speaking at a shareholders' meeting, THSRC Chairman Ou Chin-der said the company is seeking an extension of its franchise from the government.

Having invested NT$500 billion in building the system, the current 35-year franchise is unreasonably short, he said, adding that the company is looking to extend it to 70 years.

He said the company's success in having the government agree to restructure its debt, lower the interest rates and readjust the equipment depreciation three years ago, plus an average 10 percent rise in passenger volume since then, have allowed THSRC to earn profits.

Some shareholders complained that the THSRC, as a private company, should not be shouldering the heavy burden of discounted fares for the elderly, the mentally and the physically challenged.

Since its inception, according to the THSRC, it has shouldered almost NT$6 billion, or almost NT$100 million per month, from such discounted fares; the government has yet to reimburse the company.

Ou told the shareholders that the company is negotiating with the government for the reimbursement; if an agreement cannot be reached, the company may take the case to court.

The law stipulates that all public transportation providers must give discounted fares to the elderly, the mentally and the physically challenged.

Ou noted that such discounts usually account for 3 percent of sales for other public transport providers; for the high-speed rail, however, the percentage has been as high as 8 percent.

The Transport Ministry, however, has claimed that when the THSRC pricing scheme was set, it already reflected discounted fares and government subsidies.

Rail workers at Bateer Railway Station of Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region pose for photos at their dormitory, June 19, 2012. The station, which covers an area of less than 20 square meters, has only three workers and was built by prefabricated materials. Located in the Lop Nur area of Xinjiang, it offers services for the construction of Hami-Lop Nur Railway. Workers have to deal with the severe natural environment here as well as loneliness. Due to the remoteness of the station and the tough work schedule, the three workers haven't returned to their home for more than a year.

China's Ministry of Railways said Saturday that the country's railways record over 7.1 million passenger trips on the first day of the three-day Dragon Boat Festival holiday that runs from June 22-24.

On Friday, the ministry added 231 provisional passenger trains to cope with the travel rush. And it estimated 5.4 million passenger trips on Saturday, with 230 passenger trains added to the rail network.

About 5.9 million passenger trips were made on Thursday, a jump of nearly 1 million from Wednesday, and 298,000, or a 5.3-percent increase, from last year, according to the ministry.

On Thursday, passenger volumes of Jinan Railway Bureau and Qinghai-Tibet Railway Co. increased the most, up 23.8 percent and 17.4 percent, respectively, from the same period last year.

The Shanghai Railway Bureau saw the biggest passenger volume, recording 1.1 million trips on the day. Tourist cities including Beijing, Tianjin and Wuhan all saw high rail-traffic volumes.

The Dragon Boat Festival, also called Duanwu Festival, is traditionally celebrated on the fifth day of the fifth month on the Chinese lunar calendar.

The festival commemorates the famous ancient Chinese poet Qu Yuan. Chinese people prepare and eat zongzi, or leaf-packed glutinous rice dumplings, drink wine and race dragon boats on the day.

The festival falls on June 23 this year.
 

China's Ministry of Railways said Saturday that 5.9 million people traveled on trains on Thursday, the first day of the four-day travel rush for the Dragon Boat Festival holiday.

The figure marked a jump of nearly 1 million passengers from Wednesday, and 298,000 passengers, or a 5.3-percent increase, from last year, the ministry said.

Passenger volumes of Jinan Railway Bureau and Qinghai-Tibet Railway Co. increased the most, up 23.8 percent and 17.4 percent, respectively, from the same period last year.

Shanghai Railway Bureau saw the biggest volume of passengers, as trains under its control carried 1.1 million travellers on the day.

Tourist cities Beijing, Tianjin and Wuhan all saw high rail-traffic volumes.

To cope with the travel rush, the ministry added 196 provisional passenger trains on Thursday, one day ahead of the three-day Dragon Boat Festival holiday.

The Dragon Boat Festival, also called Duanwu Festival, is traditionally celebrated on the fifth day of the fifth month on the Chinese lunar calendar.

The festival commemorates the famous ancient Chinese poet Qu Yuan. Chinese people prepare and eat zongzi, or leaf-packed glutinous rice dumplings, drink wine and race dragon boats on the day.

The festival falls on June 23 this year.

Chang Zhenming, chairman of Citic Pacific, is unambiguous about the significance of his company’s Sino Iron mine in the desolate, red-soiled Pilbara region of Western Australia. “The whole of China is watching this project,” he says.

More to the point, China is watching with some trepidation as his Hong Kong-listed company faces increasing cost overruns and delays. The stakes are high. Mr Chang says Sino Iron is four times bigger than any iron ore project at home.

While outside observers often fear Chinese companies are unstoppable juggernauts in their ravenous pursuit of the world’s minerals, much of this perception is inaccurate. China’s int-ernational resource expansion is not running smoothly.

Legend has it that Chinese Emperor Wudi of the Han Dynasty (156-87 BC) once looked to the lands west of his vast empire and proclaimed them to have people who placed "great value on the rich produce of China".

That regal observation soon spurred exploration of those foreign lands, leading to a network of trading routes between the East and West that came to be known as the Silk Road.

The historic route declined in the centuries that followed as maritime trade increased, but there are now renewed efforts to revive the continental link - this time through the latest addition to the Eurasian land bridge rail.

Connecting Lianyungang port in East China's Jiangsu province to distant Belgium, the railway is being promoted as a shorter, more efficient way to transport goods between China and Europe. Lianyungang lies near the center of China's eastern coastline, where the country's southern economic and manufacturing hubs have helped enrich cities in provinces like Jiangsu and Zhejiang.

The land bridge traverses more than 10,000 km through China, Central Asia and Eastern Europe before arriving at European trading hubs like Rotterdam and Antwerp in about two weeks. The route is expected to benefit more than 40 countries and regions by taking less than half the time and enjoying a similar reduction in costs compared with transporting goods by sea.

Other routes under the Eurasian land bridge concept include an earlier one that consists of the Trans-Siberian Railway and the Russian seaport of Vladivostok. Yet another rail link considers connecting the southern Chinese city of Shenzhen with Rotterdam, through a 15,000-km route across 17 countries and regions - via Guangdong and Yunnan provinces as well as the Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region in China - before entering Myanmar, Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, Iran and Turkey toward its western destination.

Faced with higher production costs, maturing manufacturing industries and changing economic modes in eastern China's more economically developed coastal areas, Chinese authorities are now stepping up efforts to promote the benefits of the latest working route of the land bridge for Chinese goods to reach markets in the West as they look for ways to stay competitive.

Shen Dingli, professor of international studies at Shanghai-based Fudan University and executive dean of its Institute of International Studies, said the land bridge can help break the logistical barriers and bottlenecks in China's regional logistics flow as the country's western regions stand to benefit significantly from the new link.

To that effect, Chongqing, the southwestern municipality and an increasingly important manufacturing and trading hub of inland China, is already positioning itself as the latest crucial link of this Eurasian land bridge.

The megacity, one of the largest and fastest growing cities in the world with a 32-million-strong population, has opened a route to form part of the land bridge in the north at Shaanxi's provincial capital Xi'an - the historic city that flourished as the Chinese terminus of the Silk Road centuries ago.

The new link is expected to offer an attractive alternative for trading companies in Chongqing that need to operate through southern Chinese coastal ports such as Shanghai or Guangzhou before shipping their goods through the Strait of Malacca if they choose the maritime route, which can end up being more time consuming and costly.

Logistics companies such as DB Schenker and Far East Land Bridge are already using the land route to transport containers between Chongqing and European ports like Duisburg in Germany's Ruhr industrial belt.

The Chongqing-Europe link, which takes about two weeks, is banking on the megacity's goods coming from the IT, electronics, auto, steel, chemical and other sectors that are headed for European markets. Chongqing authorities said the railway will also seal the city as an international logistics hub by connecting the Yangtze River Delta economic belt to Europe.

Xu Ming, a senior official of Chongqing municipal committee, said the land bridge will be vital to China-Europe businesses.

"The old Silk Road connected the Eastern and Western empires. It was a great trading route of utmost importance and a vital artery in international commerce and the exchange of ideas between the East and West.

"This new route linking Chongqing to the West is the next big thing. It can shorten present shipping times by up to 20 days. It has received full support from various government ministries and departments to ensure the smooth flow and handling of goods. In terms of safety and security, it trumps the threats that maritime shipping might face, such as piracy," Xu said at this year's Liangjiang Forum in Chongqing to discuss the development of the land bridge as part of the challenges and opportunities in western China with business leaders and officials from both sides. Xu is also the director-general of the administrative committee of Chongqing's new Liangjiang development area.

"This 'New Silk Road' is better, faster and more efficient as it transports valuable goods between China and Europe. China-EU trade last year hit nearly $600 billion. Europe is China's biggest export market and we are Europe's second largest. In terms of luxury goods, China is set to become the largest market and that also has great significance for the European luxury goods market," he said.

"Chongqing is a major manufacturing hub and draws on the strengths of the Yangtze River Delta as an economic center. Its transportation links connect important cities and regions.

"As the next major trading link between China and Europe, the economic significance of its impact on helping the European debt crisis cannot be underestimated."

Zhai Qian, deputy director-general of the European Department at the Ministry of Commerce, said the European market and its development is extremely important for China and that has most recently been expressed in Chinese leaders' visits to the EU.

"The next stages of the Chinese economy spelled out in the country's 12th Five-Year Plan (2011-15) that call for sustainable development offer numerous opportunities for China-European businesses to contribute," Zhai said.

"Multipronged efforts are already being made to expand the exchange of goods and services between the Chinese and European markets and we will continue to encourage the development of these sectors of the new economy."

Jens Ruebbert, senior vice-president of the European Union Chamber of Commerce in China and managing director and chief administrative officer of Deutsche Bank (China), said the chamber is well aware of Chongqing's growth and it is "quite committed" to opening its next office in the megacity.

"There is no doubt about it. EU-China economic relations are hugely important. In 2011, the EU-China trade relationship was the second largest in the world. In 2012, it is expected to become the largest in the world," said Ruebbert, whose chamber now has more than 1,700 members split into 42 working groups with seven local chapters in China.

"The EU and China have both recently issued medium-term development strategies and these two strategies are very similar. The core of both the EU's 2020 strategy and China's 12th Five-Year Plan is the guide for green and sustainable growth based on innovative products. China aims to rebalance its economy through increasing domestic consumption and opening its economy further. This process will bring the economies of China and the EU closer.

"The EU offers great opportunities for China and for increasing cooperation. In a time of continued debt crisis in Europe, China has indeed opportunities to increase its investment in Europe. The European chamber is a proponent of open markets and welcomes and encourages such investment."

The Chinese government's "go west" policy to spur investment inland also bodes well for EU companies that are making their presence felt in Chongqing, Ruebbert said.

"It absolutely creates opportunities for EU companies. This Eurasian railway is really very efficient. We have heard it takes less than about 16 days, it is less than half the shipping speeds with convenient customs passing and integrated operating platforms. It will also serve to further enhance the economic and trade ties between China and Europe, and to attract investment to Chongqing. It shows the logistics development of Chongqing and offers opportunities for further European cooperation. The railway is another example of the strong competitive advantages of Chongqing and contributes to efficiency to infrastructure."

Fudan University's Shen pointed out that the Chongqing connection in the Eurasian land bridge can help transfer foreign investment to western China, significantly increasing the export capacity of the megacity.

"In recent years, Chongqing has been promoting the production capacity of notebook computers to reach 1 million units annually, which is the sum of China's six coastal provinces. This strategy itself is a major boost to the economic boom of Chongqing and the central regions," Shen said.

Mu Huaping, director of Chongqing's Municipal Commission of Economy and Information Technology and head of the Municipal Logistics Office, said when the authorities discussed the latest rail link two years ago, they were still not confident of the project. But it has taken just that time for them to be convinced of the numerous benefits of the connection and the role it will play in cross-border trade.

"Chongqing's auto and electronics products are seeing strong growth. Of these, the low-end variety heads to Shenzhen before being transported by ship to Western markets, while more high-end products are delivered by air. We started exploring the land bridge as an alternative to these routes," Mu said.

But he said there are many issues that still need to be resolved before the bridge can be operated optimally. These include different track gauges in countries like Russia along the route, the limited storage capacity of rail containers when compared to those used on ships, time-consuming land border checks and extreme temperature and environmental conditions as the trains wind through Central Asia and Eastern Europe, all of which make the cost of using the land bridge significantly higher than maritime shipping.

"Stakeholders in the West and China, as well as those along the route, need to work together to iron out these issues to get the land bridge rolling. We are now providing the necessary platforms for these to happen," Mu said.

To that effect, a logistics company is also being set up to serve as a platform for the rail link co-funded by the Chinese, Kazak, Russian and German railway authorities.

"Lowering the cost will be the major factor in making this land bridge more competitive, especially when many Chinese exports headed to the West are extremely sensitive to price differences. These are naturally the top concerns for businesses that choose the land bridge over other forms of shipping."

Similarly, He Mingke, vice-president of the China Society of Logistics, pointed out that the land bridge traverses six different countries, all with political, economic and environmental conditions that could pose major obstacles to the smooth running of the railway.

"The success of the land bridge will ultimately depend on factors including a concerted political will and coordination of technology and operational systems for businesses to become confident enough to use it."

But Claudio Facchin, senior vice-president of Swedish-Swiss power and automation technology giant ABB Group and president of its North Asia Region, said European companies such as his are already taking advantage of Chongqing's efforts to play a central role in China-EU trade via new channels such as the land bridge.

"We see the particular importance of being here in the western region, particularly in Chongqing. It has been growing at almost double the speed of the country, which we all know is the largest growing market."

Facchin's confidence in the growth of the region and the logistics advantages of the megacity follow those by various industry leaders including IT giants Acer and Hewlett-Packard.

Automakers have also been quick to move, with Ford China investing in at least three factories inland. Germany's largest steelmaker ThyssenKrupp has also said it was planning an assembly shop, painting workshop and quality control laboratory in the region to help provide parts for major automakers.

At the Liangjiang forum, Jochum Haakma, chairman of the Netherlands Council for Trade Promotion, cited a Chinese saying of an auspicious purple cloud being blown from the east, to allude to the help that the Chinese economy will give to its beleaguered counterpart in the West.

"We have seen from all this that China is in relatively very good shape while the European Union is anything but. So whenever this purple cloud appears again in the East, in China, you should send it straight to the West to help us."

China has shelved the proposed railway project between Chittagong and Kunming due to opposition from Myanmar.

However, China is good to go for the road project connecting the two countries to boost bilateral trade and commerce.

Highly placed Bangladesh government sources said the Myanmar government late last year suddenly refused to allow China to build the rail links through its territory, irking the Bangladeshi and Chinese governments.

Li Jeming, vice-minister for commerce of Yunnan provincial government, during a press briefing for Asian journalists in Kunming told The Daily Star, “We're always keen on establishing a rail link between Kunming and Chittagong, but we have to give up the idea for now as Myanmar is against it.”

Replying to The Daily Star, he said the Yunnan provincial government had even provided Myanmar with $2 billion financial support so that rail lines could be built on its territory.

He said they were now putting their attention on building railway link between Kunming and Laos, which he said would ultimately connect Thailand.

When a Myanmarese journalist asked if China could do anything to convince Myanmar, Li said, “We could do some work to make the government of Myanmar understand the need for rail lines and how they would benefit from it but it is not our major responsibility. Rather it is the people of Myanmar who must tell their government of their needs.”

If the Myanmar people realise this, their government might come forward, said the junior minister, adding that if the Chittagong-Kunming rail connectivity could be established, all three countries would benefit.

Meanwhile, LGRD and Cooperatives Minister Syed Ashraful Islam told The Daily Star that they have heard that Myanmar had been opposing the construction of rail link. He said the work for the road connectivity would go on.

Ashraf said a road show would be held in Kunming and Dhaka soon to tell people about the business opportunities the connectivity would create in the countries.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina had urged China several times to construct the rail and road links between the two cities, which are considered by many as the Chinese gateway to South and South East Asia.

In March 2010, Hasina visited Kunming and expressed her interest in road and rail links between Chittagong and Kunming.

After her visit, Governor of Yunnan province Qin Guangrong expressed his government's desire to sign a Memorandum of Understanding with Bangladesh on road and rail communications between the two countries.

In October, 2010, Chinese Assistant Minister for Foreign Affairs Liu Zhen in Beijing said China would construct road and rail links between Chittagong and Kunming via Myanmar to boost Sino-Bangladesh cooperation.

Bangladesh, the same year, made a plan to build rail lines and roads up to the Myanmar border by 2014 at a cost of Tk 1,852 crore. The government had aimed at making a corridor for the proposed Trans-Asian Railway and connecting to Kunming through Myanmar.

However, highly placed government sources claimed that the rail project had been shelved in the interest of India, which opposed Bangladesh becoming connected to its powerful neighbour in the Far East.

They said the Prime Minister's Office would try to convince Myanmar and India to allow construction of the rail line in the greater interest of the region.

South Africa is exploring the possibility of the cooperation with China on developing the Johannesburg-Durban high-speed railway, the newspaper Business Day reported on Thursday.

"The discussion of the technological cooperation with China on the new high-speed railway between the largest city and financial center of Johannesburg and the eastern port city of Durban has been conducted," the newspaper said.

"China's CRH380A train with a design speed of 380 km per hour has already achieved a speed of 416 km per hour on the Shanghai- Hangzhou intercity High-Speed Railway, while a next generation CSR prototype has reached 500 km per hour," said the newspaper.

In recent years, the South Africa's Department of Transport has been actively advancing its project of the high-speed railway line linking Johannesburg and Durban.

In April 2010, South Africa's Minister of Transport Sibusiso Ndebele proposed to construct the Johannesburg-Durban high-speed railway system. In June 2010, the minister repeated the proposal.

The planned Johannesburg-Durban high-speed railway is about 560 km long, with an expectation of cost at 30 billion US dollars.

The newspaper said "It will be a reality for the passengers to spend more than one hour on the high-speed train between Johannesburg and Durban by 2030."

"As the line operates, the residents in Johannesburg could enjoy the beautiful evening beaches in Durban after a tough day's work," said the newspaper.

In May 2010, the South Africa's Department of Transport presented Parliament with the ambitious National Transport Master Plan, expecting to shape a modern high-speed railway network in the country by the end of 2050. The network consists of high-speed projects from Johannesburg to Durban, Johannesburg to the legislative capital of Cape Town with a range of approximately 1, 260 km and Johannesburg to the town of Musina in the northern province of Limpopo with a range of about 520 km.

Currently high-speed train giants in the world are intensifying their efforts to occupy the South African market shares on the project of the Johannesburg-Durban high-speed railway.

On Jan. 27, Alstom Transport South Africa director Philippe Roch said Alstom in France keeps the record for the world's fastest train ride at 574.8 km per hour, set in April 2007, "having 60 percent of the global very high-speed rail market."

"Alstom is keen to take part in the building of a South African very high-speed rail service," Roch said.

On June 7, South Africa's first high-speed railway line Gautrain was fully operational as its final leg between Park station and neighboring Rosebank Station in Johannesburg opened.

The Gautrain system is the first modern high-speed railway on the African continent, linking Johannesburg and Pretoria with a maximum speed of 160 km per hour.

The China Post news staff--The high-speed railway system turned a profit in 2011 for the first time since it started running over five years ago.
The Taiwan High Speed Rail Corporation (THSRC) yesterday reported NT$32.24 billion in revenues for 2011, rising from NT$27.64 billion in 2010. After-tax profit came to NT$5.78 billion.

Passenger volume last year also rose about 12 percent to 41.63 million people.

Speaking at a shareholders' meeting, THSRC Chairman Ou Chin-der said the company is seeking an extension of its franchise from the government.

Having invested NT$500 billion in building the system, the current 35-year franchise is unreasonably short, he said, adding that the company is looking to extend it to 70 years.

He said the company's success in having the government agree to restructure its debt, lower the interest rates and readjust the equipment depreciation three years ago, plus an average 10 percent rise in passenger volume since then, have allowed THSRC to earn profits.

Some shareholders complained that the THSRC, as a private company, should not be shouldering the heavy burden of discounted fares for the elderly, the mentally and the physically challenged.

Since its inception, according to the THSRC, it has shouldered almost NT$6 billion, or almost NT$100 million per month, from such discounted fares; the government has yet to reimburse the company.

Ou told the shareholders that the company is negotiating with the government for the reimbursement; if an agreement cannot be reached, the company may take the case to court.

The law stipulates that all public transportation providers must give discounted fares to the elderly, the mentally and the physically challenged.

Ou noted that such discounts usually account for 3 percent of sales for other public transport providers; for the high-speed rail, however, the percentage has been as high as 8 percent.

The Transport Ministry, however, has claimed that when the THSRC pricing scheme was set, it already reflected discounted fares and government subsidies.

A CRH high-speed train from Xi'an arrives in Yan'an, northwest China's Shaanxi Province, June 26, 2012. Operation of a CRH bullet train service between Xi'an, the provincial capital, and Yan'an, once the headquarter of the Communist Party of China (CPC), will start on July 1, following a successful test run on Tueday. The new train service will shorten travel time between the two cities to 2.5 hours.
 

Chinese passengers will be able to take a ride on state-of-the-art low-floor trams in the near future, thanks to agreements signed Wednesday between Siemens and CSR Zhuzhou Electric Locomotive Co Ltd.

Siemens will transfer 100 percent of its "Combino" low-floor tram technology to the Chinese company, with the Chinese-made trams set to roll off the production line by the end of this year or early next year, according to a long-term cooperation agreement and technology license agreement signed by both sides.

Low-floor trams lack the short steps sometimes located between train entrances, making them more convenient for children, disabled people and the elderly to traverse.

The length of the Combino trams varies from 19 meters to a world record of 54 meters, allowing them to accommodate 100 to 250 passengers, depending on the tram design.

The low-floor trams cost just one-fifth of the amount spent on subway trams, making them suitable for public transportation in major Chinese cities, said Xu Zongxiang, general manager of CSR Zhuzhou Electric Locomotive Co Ltd.

CSR Zhuzhou Electric Locomotive Co Ltd is one of the country's biggest electric train manufacturers. It is a subsidiary of CSR Corporation Limited.

Shanghai Metro generated a Weibo storm last week after warning women not to wear sexy outfits on the subway. Seriously.

Weibo users were outraged after the official Weibo account of the Shanghai Metro posted a photo of a woman (pictured at right) wearing a sheer dress on the platform with the following comment (translation via South China Morning Post):

"Dressing like that, it would be unusual for a lady not be harassed. There can be perverts on the subway and it's hard to get rid of them. Please have self respect, ladies."
The post garnered over 6,000 comments and 15,000 reblogs, many criticizing the transport agency for "sexist" remarks. "What I wear is my basic right, it does not deny the rights of others" writes user SOY-BEAN-E.

Over the weekend, two women protested the remarks by wearing black robes and masks and taking to Line 2. They held signs that read, "I can be sexy, but you can not harass," and "yes to cool dress, no to dirty man."
But if they were hoping to start a Chinese version of SlutWalk, they did a pretty lame job of it. According to Tea Leaf nation, their statement failed to have much impact on Weibo users. In a poll on the popular microblogging site yesterday, some 70 per cent of nearly 17,000 respondents said that women should dress more conservatively when on the subway and that dress code has little to do with gender discrimination, according to the SCMP.

Meanwhile, Shanghai Metro still hasn't apologized for the controversial comments. In fact, the original post still remains on its Weibo feed.

Some women in Shanghai were outraged over the weekend about the Shanghai Metro asking them on a micro blog to wear more clothing in public.

The blog attracted opposition from women, some of whom held signs and protested against the blog's comments in the Shanghai subway on Sunday.

Shanghai No 2 Subway Co published a micro blog attached with an image on Sina Weibo, saying it's not surprising for women to be harassed in the subway if they are wearing revealing clothing and called on women to cherish themselves.

The blog post attracted much opposition from netizens and some commented by saying a women's choice to wear what she chooses can not be an excuse for sexual harassment.

"According to this logic, all men can harass women in swimming pools?" wrote a netizen.

But still some supported the metro's blog post and said it's common sense and public ethic to dress conservatively in public places.